OM DETTA AVSNITT
He overdosed eight times. He died three times. ThenEverything Changed.
In this raw episode of The Informed Citizen, produced in collaboration with Battlefield Addiction. host Dr. Philip Lindholm sits down with recovering addict Noah for an unfiltered conversation about fentanyl addiction, homelessness, drug treatment, crime, recovery, and the policies meant to address the crisis.
Noah traces his addiction back to childhood, when drugsfirst offered something he desperately wanted: acceptance and belonging. What began with marijuana eventuallyescalated to cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine, and fentanyl. As opportunities disappeared and shame grew, homelessness stopped feeling temporary and beganfeeling like a community where he believed he belonged.
Then fentanyl changed everything.
Noah describes the physical grip of fentanyl addiction,repeated overdoses, life on the streets, and why simply knowing that treatment exists does not necessarily mean someone is ready to accept it. He also explains why, in his own case, being arrested and getting sober in jail became the interruption he believes he needed to survive.
His perspective challenges some of the assumptions at thecenter of America's debate over homelessness,addiction, public safety, harm reduction, treatment, and criminal justice. Noah argues that people actively using drugs on the streets may need firm intervention and a real choice between incarceration and treatment - while families and others experiencing homelessness because of poverty or housing costs require a very different response.
But this conversation is about more than policy. It is aboutparents who refused to give up, the strange sense of family that can develop on the streets, the pain addiction temporarily numbs, and the possibility that even after years of addiction, a person can still choose a different life.
Noah's first experience with drugs and why belonging and acceptance mattered so much.
How a promising high-school football careerunraveled after one major mistake
The progression from marijuana and cocaine toheroin, methamphetamine, and fentanyl
Becoming homeless and finding an unexpectedsense of family and community on the streets
Surviving eight overdoses and being clinicallydead three times
Why Noah says fentanyl is fundamentallydifferent from the drugs he used before it
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Produced by Dr. Philip Lindholm
Music: “This PartyBussin” by Sound and Vision (license purchased)
This podcast is for informational purposes only and reflects the experiences and opinions expressed by the participants. It is not professional medical, legal, or treatment advice.
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